Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Once upon a time, working in a bank was a respectable job. Now, it seems to be turning into the new Amway. First, Westpac staff were expected to push a certain amount of debt on their customers, regardless of whether they needed it or not. Now, BNZ staff have been asked to engage in "social prospecting" of their friends and relatives during the Christmas break, so that they can be sold more debt products (such as mortgages and credit cards) after the holidays. I'm sure that will deepen and strengthen their personal relationships no end...

At the same time, the bank is talking about "work-life balance" - the "balance" seeming to lie in the total colonisation of all aspects of life by work.

Or from Westpac staff who've got their "work-life balance" sorted out to Westpac's satisfaction....

When your company starts talking about work-life balance it's time to start looking for another job. It's one of those terms like "flexibility", which usually means the employer is looking to decrease your pay, chop your working conditions back or increase your hours. If Westpac is talking "work-life balance", it presumably means most of their staff currently don't see that being paid for a 40-hour week means they should work 50 or 60 hours, or that they should leverage their friendships into income for their employer's shareholders.

Lest anyone figure BNZ and Westpac are the only culprits, ANZ were pushing social prospecting to their staff at least three years ago when I worked for them..It's an astonishingly greedy industry that can be turning billions in annual profits and yet always has the profit ratchet out.

But the real classic was my girlfriend at the time also worked for ANZ and her boss organised a work life balance session as part of their off-site conference. Session start time? 6am! Honestly, you couldn't make this stuff up..
Posted by
Huskynut
:
12/27/2005 08:59:00 PM